'Grey's Anatomy' Stars Address Series' Future: 'This Show Is a Vampire, It Can't Be Killed'

by Meredith B. Kile
7:07 PM PST, January 07, 2016

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'Grey's Anatomy' Stars Address Series' Future: 'This Show Is a Vampire, It Can't Be Killed'

Grey’s Anatomy is midway through its 12th season, but fan interest doesn’t seem to be waning at all. In fact, on Wednesday, the cast picked up their third People’s Choice Award for Favorite Network TV Drama.

“It's amazing is what it is,” star Chandra Wilson told ET’s Cameron Mathison backstage after the awards show. “It goes to show how devoted our viewers, our fans are to this show, how invested they are in these characters, how much they care about them. Whether they live, whether they die, you know, they are truly invested.”

Wilson is just one of four main cast members who have been on the show since season one, along with James Pickens Jr., Justin Chambers, and Ellen Pompeo, who won her second People’s Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic TV Actress.

“At the end of the day, it's great storytelling,” Pickens agreed. “I mean, folks still want to hear great stories, you know, they follow these characters when they are kind of ugly and they follow them when they're heroic. And I think that it's something that resonates with fans going on now twelve seasons.”

The show has become a bit of a revolving door for new and recurring cast members, as Kelly McCreary -- who joined Grey’s as Meredith's half-sister Maggie Pierce in season ten -- put it, “This show is a vampire, it can't be killed.”

The cast also cited the advent of social media with keeping their viewers involved and engaged in recent years, but admitted that all credit for the show’s longevity goes to creator and showrunner Shonda Rhimes.

“The writers are fearless,” Drew said. “I mean, Shonda tries anything and everything and it's really exciting. She has this incredible freedom to kind of do whatever she wants with us and it's amazing. We get to see these incredible things happen.”